Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I came upon this book by mere chance, I had not heard of it -and apparently I was living under a rock because afterwards I found out that this book caused quite a stir-, last week I was hopping trough blogs and saw a very good review, I think the reviewer said something like it was her favorite contemporary romance ever –if I find the link I’ll post it on the comments because for the life of me I can’t remember the name of the blog-, and I decided to check it out, I was not expecting to enjoy it as much (mostly because YA books and I don’t usually see eye to eye).

In this book we meet Anna, she is the daughter of a Nicholas Sparks-esque writer who is a lot into appearances and thus decides to send her to an exclusive school in France without minding that she is perfectly happy living in America with her mother and brother. Once at her new school she befriends a group of artsy cool kids that are somewhat popular, but not exactly THE popular crowd. One of these kids is Etienne St. Clair, he is -in one word- dreamy, and they instantly connect, the problem is that he has a girlfriend, needless to say that the entire book deals with Anna adapting to her new life and adapting to her growing and conflicting relationship with St. Clair.

Review: What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

I really love Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s novels, every time that I need a fix of something really good to read I go and blindly pick up any of her novels and read it because usually they are excellent. So when I started reading What I did for Love I was expecting something completely different, or at least more genuine. What I found in this novel made me think that Susan ran out of ideas for a novel and took a much publicized celebrity story and made a novel out of it.

This is the story of America’s Sweetheart Georgie York, better known for her work as Scooter on the TV series “Skip and Scooter”, a TV series that ended a long time ago but everybody still remembers. The book starts when paparazzi are chasing Georgie to show her the picture of the sonogram of the baby that her ex-husband and his new wife are expecting (they are both actors too). It has been a year since her divorce but she is still hurt by all the publicity; what happened was that she was married to this super handsome and famous actor, they were both rich and famous, but then while Lance, the ex, was filming a movie abroad he fell in love with the gorgeous and humanitarian actress Jade. Long story short, he asked Georgie for a divorce, moved in with Jade and started a new life travelling to save the world.

Blog Design Giveaway hosted by The Owl Bookmark Blog

Oh, the wonders of blog-hoping! I just found this great blog and they are hosting a brilliant giveaway, the winner gets a custom blog design. The contest ends on April 25 so you have to hurry! Click here to get all the details!

Review: The First by Saadia Ahmed

Source: we received this book from the author for review purposes.

In The First we meet Reena, she is a college student who comes from a conservative Pakistani family, and is clear from the beginning that this means she doesn’t enjoys the same liberties that any regular young student would. One day in class she meets Brian, he is the all American blue eyed guy and they instantly hit it off and start dating, but there is always the concern that Reena’s family won’t approve of him.

At this point you may think you know what this book is about, girl meets boy, girl and boy fall for each other, girl’s family opposes the relationship, girl and boy fight because of this, girl and boy reunite, and in the end -and against all odds- their love conquers all.  But that is not the case here. This is a short novella but the story develops through years. I don’t really want to spoil the plot, but Reena and Brian don’t get together right away, in fact Brian is absent half the book. I think this story is more about Reena’s journey than anything else, the love story -or lack thereof- plays a secondary role.

Follow My Book Blog Friday! (04/08 to 04/15)

This week’s featured blog is My Keeper Shelf, so we say hello to Lesley who is behind the blog.

Today’s question is:

Q. Do you judge a book by its cover?

I can’t say that I haven’t bought a book because the cover was ugly, although I admit that when I see one of those covers that have some kind of computer animated characters on it – as if someone used The Sims game to do the cover- I think: that looks awful; maybe the book is about 3D porn or something! But if the reviews are good then I’ll probably read it (even if it is 3D porn!). Now, if the cover is really pretty, that might make me buy the book regardless of the reviews or whether I know the author or not (that’s how I discovered Jill Mansell), sometimes the cover looks like candy, and that just makes me hungry. 



UPDATE

A long time ago I used to care more about covers; if the cover was cheesy or trashy –or at least what I think is cheesy or trashy- I usually didn’t buy it. But that was only because I had the same “problem” that Mad Scientist has (see comments), I didn’t read the synopsis; once I started reading the synopsis, the covers became secondary in my reasons to buy a book. But if the cover is really really good, like the one from Already Home by Susan Mallery, I’m definitely buying it.

Waiting on Wednesday: Chasing Fire

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Today’s pic is Nora Roberts, it comes out next week and I can’t wait!

From Nora’s webpage:

The number-one New York Times-bestselling author delves into the world of elite firefighters who thrive on danger and adrenaline-men and women who wouldn't know how to live life if it wasn't on the edge. 

There's little as thrilling as firefighting-at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are in Rowan's blood: her father is a legend. She's been fighting fires since her eighteenth birthday. At this point, returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home-even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering. 

Fortunately, this year's rookie crop is one of the strongest ever-and Gulliver Curry's one of the best. He's also a walking contradiction, a hotshot firefighter with a big vocabulary and a winter job at a kids' arcade. 

Everything is thrown off balance when a dark presence lashes out against Rowan, looking to blame someone for last year's tragedy. Rowan knows she can't someone she can lean on, she may not make it through the summer complicate things with Gull-any distractions in the air or on the ground could mean the end-but if she doesn't find . . . .

Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

Putnam Adult. April 12, 2011.

Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Breaking the Spine

Review: Already Home by Susan Mallery

I have enjoyed almost everything I’ve read by Susan Mallery, some of her books I liked more than others, and some of them are pure gold. I believe this book falls into the last category.

Already Home is about a group of women whose lives get mixed together by different reasons. Jenna is recently divorced and is back at home, her self-esteem has gotten such a huge blow that she is even changing careers, she used to be a chef but now feels so insecure that is starting a cookware store. Violet is also insecure in her personal life, but for a complete different set of reasons, she comes to the store looking for a job, and quickly a friendship ensures between the two of them.

On the other hand is Beth, she is Jenna’s adoptive mother, and she is happy that her daughter is back in town, but is worried about her. And then, along comes Serenity, she is Jenna’s birth mother and has come to meet her daughter. Needless to say that Jenna is shocked and not too happy about it.